I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a combination child's seat and armrest assembly for a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to such a combination that is reversibly moveable from one of a folded position serving as an armrest to a raised position whereby a child may be seated in the assembly. A bed telescoping between the rear seat and the front may also be provided.
II. Description of the Relevant Art
Of increased concern for parents of young children over the last decade has been the application and use of seats for children in motor vehicles. This concern is based on the well-known fact that if small children are not buckled in place in a moving vehicle, particularly in an automobile, this situation presents a potentially lethal accident. Particularly, an unrestrained child acts like a free-moving missile if the car is impacted by another vehicle or if the vehicle strikes a standing object in an accident.
Acknowledging the existence of this problem, many states have enacted laws which require that children of certain ages be buckled into conventional seat belts presently provided in all automobiles.
However, such passenger restraint systems are directed at adults, and while they may have application for use to some extent with older children, conventional seat belts are not practically useable for very small children and infants.
Accordingly, between the time shortly after birth and the time when the child is physically developed enough to be seated and restrained with an adult-sized restraint system, the method of restraining a child must be modified.
Presently it is known to restrain small children and infants into a car seat specifically designed for such passengers. The car seat is a semi-portable chair which preferably has its own built in seat belt. The semi-portable chair is conventionally positioned in the front seat of an automobile or in the back seat thereof and the provided seat belt is strapped about or through the frame of the car seat. In this manner, the seat is held in place by the conventional restraint system of the automobile, just as an individual would be held therein. A small child or infant passenger is himself strapped into the child's seat. Conventionally, the child has its back to the direction of travel, and faces the rear window. This arrangement provides for maximum support of the child's as-yet still weak neck and related musculature.
This known system suffers from several disadvantages. First, and foremost, the utilization of a car seat is extremely inconvenient because it requires the parents to install and remove the car seat virtually every time a trip is taken. Furthermore, because the contours of many car seats differ from each other, fitting a car seat, which is of supposedly universal design, to the variety of present car seats is very difficult.
Second, and related to the first problem, because of the inconvenience of having to manipulate the car seat, many times parents of young children do not trouble themselves with the installation of the car seat, particularly when they are in a hurry. This results in children often being transported in a vehicle without proper restraint.
Third, such car seats are remarkably expensive and for many people do not provide an affordable option.
Fourth, many times the parents of small children fail to improperly situate the child's car seat, thus compounding the problem in the event of an accident whereupon the seat, with a child strapped therein, is itself potentially a missile-like object.
Accordingly, the prior approaches is to solving the problem of providing convenient and efficient means of holding a small child or infant in place within the seat of a automobile or similar vehicle have failed to eliminate the inconvenience and ineffectiveness of known seating systems.